Challenges. Why did you start Pasqal in 2019?
Georges Olivier Reymond. We are five co-founders, all of whom have defended a thesis in quantum physics. It is Alain Aspect, Nobel Prize in Physics 2022that brought us together. The trigger is that we have seen short-term applications. One of the mistakes I made in my previous life that engineers often make is trying to build a super machine. But it is useless if there are no customers behind it. for pascals, EDF came to us very quickly.
For what kind of application?
With the development of electric cars, they will have problems managing their electricity grid. If everyone wants to charge their vehicle at night, charging prioritization is required. Fire engines or rescue services have priority. This poses complex problems that quanta will help solve.
Which use cases can be considered for the general public?
It’s all about computational power. Your smartphone is 1 million times more powerful than the computer that put man on the moon. But if we put 1 million smartphones side by side, your computing power won’t be huge. Thanks to Quantum, we can ramp up very quickly. We can do the same calculations as a high-performance computer, only using 10 to 100 times less energy. There are also obvious use cases in the financial sector: at Crédit Agricole, we have taken on the risk management for their loans. It’s a world first.
Why are you raising 100 million euros?
The development of the company is very capital intensive. Our American competitors are also collecting a lot of money. We need to build more machines and develop more use cases. Today we are one hundred employees. By the end of 2023 we will double to 200 employees. The quantity is important, but so is the quality of the investors.
Including a foreign actor?
This is very important the Temasek fund based in Singaporewhich manages $400 billion in investments, tops our B line. Our goal is to strengthen our presence in Asia, even if the heart of our activities is in Massy-Palaiseau (Essonne) because we maintain strong ties with the Saclay plateau. We have just opened a subsidiary in Sherbrooke, Canada which is set to grow. It took us a year to complete this facelift because the environment is complicated. We had to review the original plan and will manage this money as a good family man while we are already preparing the next step.
What is your growth dream?
Pasqal is not a unicorn yet. We could have sold the company already, but our goal is to create a global leader in quantum technologies. Pasqal can become a French giant competing with Gafa. I am proud to have recruited 100 people who believe in our project.
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